Lismore City Council has outlined plans to prevent inappropriate development and to introduce stronger flood protection rules in new buildings as part of changes to take account of rising risks from more severe weather events.

A draft Revised Flood Prone Lands Development Control Plan (DCP) released for public comment specifies where certain types of development would be acceptable, proposes higher floor levels and outlines requirements for flood compatible materials and structural soundness.

“Given that the climate is changing, we need to plan for more frequent and more severe flood events,” Coordinator of Strategic Planning Andy Parks said today.

“The DCP sets out new risk precincts that will ensure our planning controls prohibit inappropriate development, while allowing new businesses and new housing to occur in a way and in places that are suitable.”

Mr Parks says the DCP doesn’t impact upon existing development but sets controls for how and where building should take place in future.

The DCP has been developed using new modelling, mapping and recommendations from the Lismore Floodplain Risk Management Plan interim report. The council has also invested in a flood planning portal that allows people to find flood information relating to their properties, including flood heights and depth under a range of events.

The council is considering raising the flood planning level, which is the minimum height habitable floors must be built to for new homes and for major works such as house raising. For commercial and industrial properties, a percentage of the development must be above the level.

Currently, the level is based on a 1-in-100 chance that a flood will rise to the height in any given year plus a 500mm “freeboard” safety margin.

“This is the standard flood planning level across NSW,” a Lismore explanatory video says. “Council’s proposal for the new flood planning level is to add an additional climate change factor to account for potential increased rainfall intensity.”

The new level would be similar to a 1-in-500 probability of a flood reaching that height in any given year.

The plan’s underlying principle is that any new development or modifications should always, as far as practical, result in an improvement to the existing flood risk, and “in no circumstances” should the risk be made worse.

The flooding that hit Queensland and NSW early last year has led to insurance losses of $5.92 billion, with around 241,000 claims lodged. A government-funded home buyback program is underway in the Northern Rivers region, including Lismore, which was particularly hard hit.

Lismore council will be holding a number of community consultation sessions on the DCP over the next few weeks, ahead of submissions closing on July 17.

The draft plan is available here.